RAPID
The RAPID project is two, ongoing well-being surveys designed to gather information that will help us to better understand how young children and the important adults in their lives are doing in the moment.
RAPID-Early Childhood is a survey designed to gather essential information in a continuous manner regarding the needs, health-promoting behaviors, and well-being of young children (age 0-5) and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and in the recovery period that will follow. The survey focuses on better understanding child development (and parents’ concerns about development over time), caregiver mental health and well-being, and caregiver needs and utilization of resources. The team collects this information every other week from caregivers in all 50 states and analyzes RAPID data continuously to create fact sheets and policy briefs to disseminate to key policy leaders, advocacy groups, organizations supporting caregivers and families, and the general public.
In March 2021, the team launched a second survey RAPID-Child Care to gather information from the adults who serve and care for young children (age 0-5) and their families. RAPID-CC gathers information from grandparents, sitters, family members, friends, neighbors, home-or-center-based early childhood providers, teachers, and administrators. These child care providers are an essential part of the network of support that families with young children rely upon, and we hope to know more about how COVID-19 has impacted their lives and their experiences providing care and early learning. Our objective is to provide actionable data on an ongoing basis to key stakeholders to inform immediate and long-term policy decisions that impact the lives of young children and their families.
Visit the project website at https://www.uorapidresponse.com/ and see policy briefs from the project at https://medium.com/@uo_ctn